Fastener-attaching machine



Au 8, 1939; v E NE 2,168,416

FASTENER-ATTACHING MACHINE Filed Feb. '19, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR: I

' HARRY LEV/NE BY a z 1 ATTORNEY.

. g- H. LEVINE ,4 7

v F'ASTENER-ATTACHING MACHINE Fiied- Feb. 19, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

. V HARE) LEV/1M5 v BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 8, 1939 PATENT OFFiCE FASTENER-ATTAGHING MACHINE Harry Levine, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to American Eyelet 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 19, 1938, Serial No. 191,392

Claims.

This invention relates to fastener attaching machines, and more particularly to such machines intended to attach to an envelope a metal fastener designed to keep the flap of the envelope 5 closed.

The primary object of my invention is to generally improve fastener attaching machines of the class described, and more particularly, a machine for handling and attaching an H-shaped fastener with fastener arms projecting from the cross-bar of the H and tangs formed at the ends of the H.

Machines for handling and attaching fasteners of this type have been designed, in which the fasteners are preliminarily formed with the tangs bent at right angles to the fastener, these fasteners then having to be suitably hoppered in order to position the same in uniform sequential arrangement for feed to the attaching machine. It' is far more economical and convenient to use fiat blanks, a large number of which may be compactly stacked in a magazine, and in accordance with one feature and object of my invention, the H-shaped blanks are stacked in flat condition, and the machine is provided with a preliminary bending station at which the tangs of the fastener blank are bent before the blaiik is fed to the attaching station.

More particular objects of my invention center about the feed of the blank to and from the bending station, and in accordance with my invention, two separate feed mechanisms are provided, one serving to push the flat blank from the magazine to the bending station, and the other includinga pair of pull fingers notched to receive the arms of the blank and resiliently urged downwardly, said fingers functioning to draw the fastener away from the bending station after the bending operation. This separate feed has the advantage of holding the fastener by the arms during the bending operation, despite the downward movement of the fastener at that time; of holding the fastener downwardly on the feed rails leading to the bending station during the first feed operation from the magazine; of acting as a stripper to strip the bent'fastener from the bending punch during upward movement of the punch after the bending operation; and of preventing one fastener from jamming on top of 4 another because the bent fastener is fed away from the bending station in a positive manner before a succeeding blank is fed to the bending station.

A further object of my invention is to transfer the bent fastener from the bending station to the attaching station in a convenient and simplified manner. For this purpose, I provide a stationary chute fixedly mounted on the frame of the machine and leading to a point adjacent the attaching punch. The fastener is delivered from the chute and rests temporarily on retractable support arms located beneath the punch. As the punch descends and takes hold of the fastener, the support arms are retracted, thereby clearing the path for movement of the fastener and punch toward the anvil beneath the punch.

Further objects of my invention center about the attaching punch and are, first to hold the fastener against movement during retraction of the support arms; and second, to closely surround and rigidly support the tangs of the fastener in order to prevent outward spreading or collapsing of the tangs during the attaching operation. This is of particular importance when the fastener must penetrate paper which is particularly heavy, or tough in texture and fibre.

Still further objects of the present invention concern the anvil for turning the tangs inwardly and clenching the same in place. For convenience, I shall refer to the inturning of the tangs as curling, in order to distinguish from the sharp, right-angle bending of the tangs from the flat blank at the bending station. It will be understood, however, that the tangs, while curved somewhat as they are turned inwardly, are not really curled around in the sense of a full convolution or more. Such object of my invention is to hammer the tangs flat against the inside surface of the envelope. This prevents papers or articles from catching on the tangs, and eliminates the possibility of scratching ones hand when placing the same in the envelope. An anvil which is satisfactory for flattening the tangs is unsatisfactory for preliminarily curling the tangs, as they pass through the paper; and an anvil which satisfactorily curls the tangs is unsatisfactory for hammering the same flat at the end of the attaching stroke of the punch. This is particularly true when using a simple reciproeating punch movement with no horizontal moving jaws or mechanism in the anvil. Such mechanism not only complicates the machine, but is altogether impractical when, as in the present case, the anvil is mounted on a relatively slender pointed horn over which the mouth of the envelope is slipped preparatory to the fastening operation.

In accordance with my invention, the anvil is made of two relatively movable parts, one being a curling part having a slot cut therethrough to receive the tangs, the ends of said slot being sloped to form camming surfaces for curling the tangs. The other part of the anvil includes a male element slidably receivable in the slot. The curling part is normally urged upwardly by resilient means, but toward the end of the punch stroke, this part is forced downwardly so far that the male element reaches a point flush with the top of the curling part and thus functions to hammer the tangs into perfectly flat condition. In fact, the tangs may be partially embedded in the paper, and can hardly be felt or noticed when inserting ones hand in the envelope. special H fastener here employed, a pair of slots may be used, one for each side of the H.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing, and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the fastener attaching ma chine elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates the shape of the fastener blank being handled by the machine as here illustrated;

Fig. 3 shows the manner in which the fastener is applied'to an envelope;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the plunger and delivery chute, showing the fastener support arms in retracted position;

Fig. 5 is a partially sectioned elevation explanatory of the feed mechanism at the bending station; 7

Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the bending die taken in the plane of the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the horn and anvil;

Fig. 8 is a section taken in elevation through the plunger and anvil mechanism, the section through the latter being approximately in the plane of the line 88 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a transverse section through the anvil taken in the plane of the line 9-9 of Fig. 7;

" and Fig. 13 is a perspective view explanatory of the feed mechanism at the bending station.

Referring to the drawings, the fastener is made of a blank like that shown in Fig. 2. The blank is approximately H-shaped, and has fastener arms l2 projecting outwardly from the cross-bar 14 of the H. The ends of the H are pointed as shown at l6, and when these points are bent as at the dotted fold lines I8, they form tangs for attaching the fastener to the envelope. The method of attachment and use of the fastener will be evident from Fig. 3, showing a fragment of the complete envelope. The body of the envelope is made up of a back wall 20, the edges of which are folded into overlapping relation, as is indicated at 22, in order to form the front wall 24 of the envelope body. The flap 26 projects upwardly fromthe envelope back 20 and may be turned downwardly at fold line 28 in order to With the r close the envelope. The flap is provided with a perforation 30 preferably reinforced by a patch 32. When the flap is folded over, this perforation registers with the center of the fastener 34. The fastener is secured by means of the four pointed tangs l6 which pass through the overlapping part 22 of the front wall of the envelope body, and which are clenched and preferably hammered fiat therebehind. The fastener arms [2 are turned upwardly when the envelope is being closed, and the opening 3|] in the fiap passes over the arms I2, which are then restored to outward spread condition, thus locking the flap against opening.

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a stack ofv fastener blanks 36 is disposed in a suitable preferably upright magazine 38. The arms of the blanks extend toward the sides of the machine, that is, perpendicularly to the drawing. The bottom-most blank is fed by an appropriate pusher finger at the inner end of a feed bar 40 from magazine 38 to a bending station B. Here the tangs are bent at right angles to the blank, whereupon the bent blank is fed by pull fingers 42 into a preferably stationary delivery chute C which transfers the fastener downwardly to the attaching station A. The machine is provided With a suitable horn H, and the envelope is slipped with its mouth or open end over the horn H to a point determined by appropriate locating stops not shown in the drawings. The plunger P then descends and attaches the fastener to the envelope. The opening for the flap is preferably also punched during the same operation, thus helping ensure proper registration of the opening and the fastener, but this punching mechanism forms no part of the present invention, and has not been included in the drawings.

Considering the mechanism in greater detail, and referring more particularly to Figs. 5 and 13 of the drawings, the stack of blanks 36 in magazine 38 rests at its lower end on a surface 44 formed at the rear end of a pair of feed rails 46. The pusher finger 4B is slidable in a recess 50, and the height of the pusher finger 48 is so gauged as to bear against the bottom-most blank and to slide it forwardly from the magazine over the rails 46. During this feed movement the blank is held downwardly on the rails by the end portions 52 of the pair of pull fingers '42. The pull fingers are secured to a connecting pin 54 which is oscillatable in links 56. The fingers 42 are urged downwardly by a pull spring 58 the lower end of which is secured to an arm 60 projecting from pin 54.

The first feed movement of the blank carries it to the bending station B. It is there retained by recesses 62 formed on the lower edges of pull fingers 42. The pull fingers are provided with sloping camming surfaces 64 leading to recesses 62, thus facilitating the feed of the blank to the recesses. It will be understood that these recesses receive the arms l2 of the blank. The inner side walls 66 of the feed rails 46 act as the female part of the bending die. These walls are slotted at 68 to permit downward movement of the blank during the bending operation. The 7 mits the fastener to be fed from the bending station B to the delivery chute C by the pull fingers 42. The spring pad resists downward movement of the male bending punch 18, and thereby holds the blank against lateral movement during the bending operation.

Fig. 6 shows the relation of the parts after beginning of the bending operation, with the tangs I6 partially bent toward their final perpendicular upwardly pointing position. The springpad acts as an ejector to push the bent fastener upwardly out of the die after the bending operation. The pull fingers 42 act as strippers to strip the fastener from punch 18 should it happen to adhere to the punch instead of to the die. It will be understood that the fingers 42 move downwardly with the blank during the bending operation and at no time lose their fit around the fastener arms I 2. This is illustrated by the downwardly inclined position of the pull fingers 42 shown in Fig. 13 of the drawings. The spring pad 10 has been omitted in Fig. 13 in order to clarify the construction of the feed rails 46.

At the end of the bending operation, the feed fingers 42 are pulled to the right as viewed in Fig. 5, thus moving them from the solid to the broken-line position 42'. This brings the bent fastener to the guide channel 80 in chute C. Channel 80 is formed between spaced members 82 and 84, and it will be understood that member '84 is small enough in dimension to be straddled by the bent tangs I6 of the fastener. The pull fingers 42 have not been drawn completely in broken lines in Fig. 5, in order not to confuse the drawing, but enough of the fingers has been drawn to indicate the position of the recess 62 at 62', and it will be seen that this is at or slightly beyond the beginning of the guide track 80 of the chute. The fastener falls down the chute gravitationally.

Reverting to Fig. l, the pusher feed finger is mounted at the forward end of a feed bar 40. This is reciprocated by lever 90 pivoted at 92 and carrying at its opposite end a cam follower roller 94. This cooperates with a cam 96 carried on a main time shaft 98. Shaft 90 is preferably provided with a single revolution clutch in conventional manner, the operation of the machine then being controlled by an appropriate lever or treadle. The arrangement is such that for each depression of the treadle, the shaft 98 turns through a single revolution, and this puts the machine through one complete cycle of operation. The operator then applies another envelope to the horn H and again releases the machine for one complete operation.

The pull fingers 42 are also operated from lever 90. For this purpose the feed fingers are pivotally connected at their forward ends to arms 56 secured to and depending from a shaft I00 to which is secured an arm I02, said arm I02 and the arms 56 forming in combination an angle lever. .The shaft I00 is carried on a stationary support I04 whch is fixedly mounted on the machine frame. Arm I02 is connected by a long link I08 to the lower arm I08 of lever 90. It will be evident from inspection, that the parts move in opposite direction, that is, when lever 90 swings in clockwise direction, the pusher finger moves to the right, transferring a blank from the magazine 38 to the bending station B, and at the same time the pull fingers 42 are moved to the left in order to engage the arms of the blank. When lever 90 swings counterclockwise, the pull fingers 42 move to the right, and transfer the bent fastener to the chute C, while bar 40 moves to the left, back toward the magazine. Hence jamming of one fastener on top of another is prevented.

The bending punch 16 is formed at the forward end of an arm I60 secured to shaft I62 which also carries arm I64 connected to a link I66, which in turn is connected at I68 to a cam follower lever I10. Lever I10 is oscillatably mounted on the machine frame at I12 and carries a cam follower roller I14 which bears against a cam I16 mounted on cam shaft 98. It will be clear that for each revolution of cam I16, the bending punch 18 is moved through one stroke at bending station B.

The attaching station is next described with reference to Figs. 8 through 12 of the drawings. The fastener descends through track 80 of the stationary chute C and is discharged onto a support IIO formed at the lower end of a generally upright arm I I2. The fastener is properly located along support I I0 by a pair of locating fingers I I4, these being secured to the stationary chute at I I6, and only the rear one of which is shown in the drawings. (The nearer one is visible in Fig. 4.) Fingers II4 are spaced apart (in a direction perpendicular to the drawing) further than the width of punch sleeve I I8, so that the punch can pass freely between the fingers I I4. These fingers catch the long sidewardly projecting fastener arms I2 and thereby position the fastener along support H0. The location of the fastener sidewardly of the support H0 is determined by the down-turned tangs I6. The useful working part of support I I0 is located symmetrically in front of chute C and beneath punch I20, although the arm H2 is disposed alongside chute C.

The attaching punch assembly comprises a main part I20 the bottom face I22 of which is flat and has an area corresponding to the dimension of the H-shaped part of the fastener. Punch I20 is closely surrounded by sleeve I I8, and the parts are relatively slidable. For this purpose the punch is slotted at I24, while sleeve H8 is provided with a pin I26 extending across the sleeve and slidable in slot I24. A relatively light compression spring I28 is carried in the shank I30 of the punch, and its lower end bears downwardly on pin I26 and consequently tends to keep the sleeve I I8 in the lowered position shown in Fig. 8. The side edges of sleeve II 8 are cut away at I32 to receive the fastener arms I2. As the punch assembly descends, the sleeve II8 fits around the fastener and the arms I2 are received in notches I32. The fastener is then supported against movement upon retraction of the support IIO from the position shown in Fig. 8 to the position shown in Fig. 12. The fastener manifestly cannot move to the right with the support IIO because the fastener arms I2 are already engaged by notches I32 of the sleeve H8. The fastener does not drop downward, because it is rather snugly received in sleeve II8, that is, there is at least a slight frictional resistance between the tangs I6 and the walls of the sleeve, and this is adequate to prevent the light sheet metal fastener from falling downwardly ahead of the punch.

The fastener is then carried downwardly with the punch until the tangs' I6 reach the paper of the envelope on horn H. The relation of the parts at this time is shown in Fig. 9, in which it will be seen that the tangs I6 have just reached the envelope wall I34. The sleeve IIB comes to rest, and punch I20 descends against the top of the fastener. It carries the fastener downwardly until the tangs penetrate the paper and are bent inwardly or curled, as is indicated by the broken line position I6. An important advantage of the sleeve H8 is that it bears against the outside of the tangs I6 during the attaching operation and prevents the tangs from bending or buckling outwardly even when encountering substantial resistance due to the paper I34 being unusually heavy or tough-fibred. This close fit of the sleeve H8 about the fastener will be clearly understood from inspection of Fig. 10. At the same time, it

may be explained that it is the side walls I36 of the sleeve that are important both in providing the notches I32 for arms I2, and in providing support for the tangs I6. The other side walls I 38 are unimportant and may be omitted or cut away. They are preferably retained in order to form strengthening walls which interconnect the operating walls I36, but in any case are cut away somewhat at the bottom, to receive the support IIO; They are preferably cut away to a height equal to the height of recesses I32.

Reverting again to Fig. 1, the shank I30 of the punch is carried in the lower end of a vertically reciprocable plunger P. This is slidable in bearings formed in arms I49, I42. The plunger is connected at I44 with a lever 546 pivoted within the machine frame at I48 and having a rearward and downward extension I 58 at the lower end of which is mounted a cam follower roller I52 cooperating with a cam I54 mounted on cam shaft 98. It will be evident that rotation of cam I54 causes one stroke of plunger P for each cycle of operation.

The retractable support I I ii is carried on a long arm I I2 which is pivotally mounted on frame part I42 at pivot I56. The inner edge of arm H2 is shaped to form a cam surface I58, and this cooperates with a roller I80 mounted at the forward end of lever I46. It will be seen from inspection and comparison of Figs. 1 and 4 that as the plunger descends, the support I I 8 is retracted, and the timing of retraction is made such that the sleeve II8 comes around the fastener before the support is retracted, all as was previously described.

The anvil carried by the horn H is of improved construction, and may be described with reference to Figs. 7 through 12. The anvil comprises two relatively movable parts, one being a curling part I88 and the other being a flattening part I 82. To fit the present fastener, the curling part I88 is provided with a pair of slots I 84 which are cut entirely through the member I88. The ends of slots I84 are beveled or sloped at I86 in order to form surfaces which turn the points of tangs I8 inwardly. This slope may be made a steep one, and may be best selected for nicely turning the tangs inwardly, because there is unlimited depth to the slots I84. The operation is clearly shown by the broken-line position of the tangs I6 in Fig. 9. In this specification I term this operation curling in order to distinguish the same from the bending operation at the station B.

The entire curling plate I88 is slidably received in horn H or in the stationary flattening part I82 of the anvil. The curling part I 89 is normal- 1y elevated by stiff compression springs 88. The upward movement of part I88 may be limited by a pair of screws I98, the heads of which are set in flush with horn H and beneath which a ledge I92 is received. The resistance of springs 7 I88 'is such that the tangs I 6 are curled before the curling part I8!) is depressed by the punch. The hammering of the tangs to flat condition therefore takes place only after the tangs have been preliminarily curled.

The stationary part of the anvil is provided with a pair of flattening members I82 which are slidably received within the slots I84, as is clearly shown in the drawings. When the punch I28 reaches the bottom of its pressure stroke, it forces the curling part I80 downwardly into the stationary part of the anvil until the flat top surfaces of the flattening parts I 82 become substantially flush with the top of the movable part I88. At this time the tangs I6 are hammered into a tightly closed and perfectly flat condition, as will be understood from inspection of Figs. 11 and 12 of the drawings.

Reverting to Fig. 1, it may be remarked that the entire horn H is itself slightly movable in a vertical direction, it being pivoted at I 94. This is conventional practice in order to avoid the necessity of rigidly supporting the horn. Instead, it is permitted to move downwardly a short distance until it rests on the bed plate I96, at which time the lower side of the envelope is compressed between the horn and the bed plate, while the up per side of the envelope is compressed on the top side of the horn. The stroke of the plunger P is made adequate to drive the fastener into tightly flattened condition after all of the relative movements of the parts heretofore described, have taken place.

It is believed that the construction and operation as well as the many advantages of my improved fastener attaching machine, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description thereof. A supply of flat fastener blanks is stacked in magazine 38. An envelope is slipped over the horn H. At this time a previously made fastener is already resting on retractable support H8. A suitable treadle or other starting lever is operated, thus putting the machine through a single cycle of operation. During this cycle of operation, the fastener on retractable support I I 8 is secured to the envelope, and at the same time a new fastener blank is bent at the bending station B and delivered to the chute so that it will be available for attachment to the next envelope. The double-action feed at the bedding station has the advantage of holding the blank on the guide rails during the feeding operation; of holding the blank by the arms during the bending operation; of ensuring stripping of the bent fastener from the bending punch as well as ejection of the fastener from the die; and of preventing one fastener from jamming up on top of another, for

the bent fastener is delivered to the chute during retraction of the pusher finger and long before feed of the next blank from the magazine.

The delivery of the bent fastener to the attach- J ing station is through a stationary chute fixedly mounted on the machine, and this avoids any difiiculty with smooth sliding action of the fastener at the upper end of the chute. The attaching punch not only functions to drive the fastener, but also holds the fastener in position during retraction of the support I I8. Moreover, the sleeve closely surrounding the tangs supports the same against outward bending or buckling during the attaching operation.

The anvil combines in an advantageous manner two conflicting requirements, first, the provision of sloping camming surfaces for curling the tangs, together with a deep receptive slot therebeneath to receive the tangs during the curling operation; and second, the provision of an exceedingly shallow anvil, or even better, a'flush, flat anvil top for hammering the bent tangs into perfectly flat condition. These conflicting requirements are met by the provision of relativestructure disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the following claims;

I claim:

1. Anvil mechanism for a fastener attaching machine, said machine handling H-shaped fasteners having fastener arms projecting from the bar of the H and tangs bent at the ends of the H, said anvil mechanism comprising relatively movable curling and flattening parts, said curling part having a pair of slots cut therethrough to receive the tangs, the ends of said slots being sloped to form camming surfaces for curling the tangs, the upper large end of the slots being long enough to receive the tangs before curling the same, the flattening part including a pair of male elements slidably receivable in the lower small ends of the slots of the curling part, said male elements being shorter than the spacing of the tangs prior to curling, but long enough to engage the tangs as they are curled by the sloping ends of the slots, and means yieldably urging said curling part away from the flattening part.

2. Anvil mechanism for a fastener attaching machine, said machine handling H-shaped fasteners having fastener arms projecting from the bar of the H and tangs bent downwardly from the ends of the H, said anvil mechanism comprising relatively movable curling and flattening parts,

said curling part having a pair of slots out therepair of male elements slidably receivable in the lower small ends of the slots of the curling part, said male elements being shorter than the spacing of the tangs prior to curling, but long enough to engage the tangs as they are curled by the sloping ends of the slots, springs normally urging said curling part upwardly relative to the flattening part, means to limit the upward movement of the curling part, said upward movement being adequate to provide ample clearance in the slots for curling of the tangs, the downward movement of said curling part being adequate to bring the flattening part substantially flush with the curling part in order that the tangs may be hammered flat, all in response to a single downward movement of an attaching punch against the anvil.

3. Fastener feeding and bending mechanism for a fastener attaching machine, said machine handling H-shaped fasteners having fastener arms projecting from the cross-bar of the H and having tangs at the ends of the H, said machine comprising a magazine for a stack of flat fastener blanks, means for pushing the lowermost blank from the magazine to a bending station, means for moving said fastener from the bending station to a delivery chute, a bending punch movable downwardly against said blank to force the same into a die and to thereby bend the tangs upwardly at the ends of the H, recesses at the sides of said die for receiving the arms of the fastener during the bending operation, a. spring pad in said die for ejecting the fastener from the die, and means to operate said feed means and said bending punch in proper time sequence.

4. Fastener feeding and bending mechanism for a fastener attaching machine, said machine handling fasteners having fastener arms projecting therefrom, a push finger for pushing the lowermost blank from the magazine to a'bending station, pull fingers for moving said fastener from,

the bending station to a delivery chute, and resilient means normally urging said pull fingers downwardly against the arms of the fastener, said pull fingers having extensions leading toward said magazine for holding the fastener blank down-,

I-hshaped fasteners having fastener arms projecting from the cross-bar of the H and having tangs at the ends of the H, said machine comprising a magazine for a stack of flat fastener blanks, a push finger for pushing thelowermost blank from the magazine to a bending station, pull fingers for moving said fastener from the bending station to a delivery chute, said pull fingers being recessed at the bottom to receive the fastener arms, resilient means normally urging said pull fingers downwardly against the arms of the fastener, said pull fingers having extensions leading toward said magazine for holding the fastener blank downwardly during the first feed movement and until the fastener arms reach said recesses, and means to operate said push finger and said pull fingers in proper time sequence.

6. Fastener feeding and bending mechanism for a fastener attaching machine, said machine handling H-shaped fasteners having fastener arms projecting from the cross-bar of the H and having tangs at the ends of the H, said machine.

comprising a magazine for a stack of flat fastener blanks, a push finger for pushing the lowermost blank from the magazine to a bending station, pull fingers for moving said fastener from the bending station to a delivery chute, resilient means normally urging said pull fingers downwardly against the arms of the fastener, said pull fingers having extensions leading toward said magazine for holding the fastener blank downwardly during the first feed movement, a bending punch movable downwardly against said blank to force the same into a die and to thereby bend the tangs upwardly at the ends of the H, recesses at the side of said die for receiving the arms of the fastener during the bending operation, said.

pull fingers moving downwardly with said fastener during the bending operation, a spring pad in said die for ejecting the fastener from the die, said pull fingers functioning as strippers for stripping the fastener from the punch, and means i and inwardly for delivering said fastener to an attaching station with the tangs of the fastener pointed downwardly, and attaching means including a horn for receiving an envelope to which the fastener is to be attached, an anvil on said.

horn, and a punch movable against said anvil.

a die and a punch for bending the tangs, a sta- 8. A fastener bending and attaching machine for handling fasteners having fastener arms and tangs, said machine comprising a magazine for a stack of blanks in fiatcondition, a bending station including feed means, a die and a punch for bending the tangs, a stationary chute fixedly "mounted on said machine for delivering the bent fastener downwardly and around onto retractable support arms with the tangs pointing downwardly, stationary stop fingers for engaging the arms of the fastener to locate the same beneath an attaching punch, an anvil beneath said punch, and

means to retract said retractable support as the punchrdescends on the fastener.

9. A:fastener bending and attaching machine for handling H-shaped fasteners having fastener arms projecting from the cross-bar of the H and tangsat the ends of the H, said machine comprising a magazine for a stack of blanks in fiat condition, a bending station including feed means,

tionary chute fixedly mountedon said machine for delivering the bent fastener downwardly and around onto retractable support arms with the tangs pointing downwardly, stationary stop fingers for engaging the arms of the fastener to locate the same beneath an attaching punch, an anvil'beneath said punch,'means to retract said retractable support arms, and means on said punch for holding the fastener in position when the support arms are retracted.

10. A fastener bending and attaching machine for handling H-shaped fasteners, having fastener arms projecting from the cross-bar of the H and tangsat the ends of the H, said machine comprising a magazine for a stack of blanks in flat condition, a bending station including feed means, a die and apunch for'bending the tangs, a stationary chute fixedly :mounted on said machine for delivering the -bent fastener downwardly and around onto retractable support arms with the tangs pointing downwardly, a horn for receiving'an envelope towhich the fastener is to 'be attachedjan anvil on saidrhorn'beneath said punch, means to retract said retractable support arms, and means on said punch'for'holding the fastener in position when the support arms are retracted.

11. A fastenerbending and attaching machine for-handling H-shaped fasteners'having fastener arms projecting from'the cross-bar of theH and tangs'at the ends of the'H, said'machine comprising a magazine'for a stack of blanks in fiat condition, a bending station including feed means,

a die and a punch: for bending the tangs upwardly, a stationary'chute fixedly mounted on said machine for delivering "the "bent fastener downwardly and around onto retractable support arms with the tangs 'pointingdownwardly, stationary stop'fingers for engaging the arms of the fastener -'to' locate the same beneath an attaching punch,

a horn'for receiving an envelope to which the fastener is to be attached, an anvil on ,said horn beneath said punchymeans to 'retractsaid retractablesupport arms, and means. on said punch for holding the fastener in position when the support arms are retracted.

12.?Eastener feeding and bending mechanism for a fastenerattaching: machine, said 'machine handling H-shaped fasteners having fastener arms projecting from the cross-bar of the H and having tangs at the ends of=the H, said machine comprising amagazine for a stack of flat fastener ablanks, apush fingerfor'pushing the lowermost blank from'the magazineto a bending station,

pull'fingers for moving said fastener from the bending station to a delivery chute, resilient -means normally urging said pull fingers downwardly against the arms of the fastener, a bending punch movable downwardlyagainst said blank to operate said push finger, said bending punch,

and said pull fingers in proper time sequence.

13. A fastener bending and attaching machine for handling H-shaped fasteners having fastener arms projecting from the cross-bar of the H and tangs at the ends of the H, said machine comprising a magazine for a stack of blanks in fiat condition, a bending station including feed means, a die and a punch for bending the tangs, a stationary chute fixedly mounted on said machine for delivering the bent fastener downwardly and around onto retractable support arms with the tangs pointing downwardly, stationary stop fingers for engaging the arms of the fastener to locate the same beneath an attaching punch assembly, an anvil beneath said punch assembly,v

means to retract said retractable support arms, said punch assembly including a punch with a fiat bottom surface, the area of said bottom surface corresponding to the area of the H-shaped part of the fastener, side walls outside said punch bottom of the side walls for reoeivig the arms of the fastener and holding the fastener in position when the support arms are retracted, said side walls closely fitting against the outside of the tangs of the'fastener and functioning to support the same against outward bending or buckling during the attaching operation, and resilient means normally urging the side walls downwardly relative to the punch.

and slidable relatively thereto, notches at the -14. A fastener bending and attaching machine for handling fastenershaving fastener arms and tangs,-said-machine comprising a magazine for a stack of blanks in fiat condition, a bending station including a die and a punch-forbending the W tangs upwardly, a push finger for pushing the lowermost blank from the magazine to the bending station, a stationary chute extending outwardly, downwardly and inwardly for delivering a fastener'to an attaching station-with the tangs.

of the fastener pointed downwardly, pull fingers for moving said fastener from the bending station to the delivery chute, resilient means normally urging said pull fingers downwardly against the arms of the fastener, said pull fingers having extensions leading toward said magazine for holdingthe fastener blank-downwardly, and attaching means including a horn for receiving an envelope to which the fastener is to be attached, an anvil .on-said horn, and a punch movable against said anvil.

15. A fastener bending and attaching machine for'handlingfasteners havingfastener arms and tangs, said machinercomprising a magazine for a stack of blanks in fiat condition, a bending sta- .tion including feed means, a die and a punchfor bending the tangs, astationary chute fixedly mounted on said machine for delivering the bent fastener downwardly and around onto retractable support arms with the tangs pointing downwardly, stationary stop fingers for engaging the arms of the fastener to locate the same beneath an attaching punch, anvil mechanism beneath said punch, means to retract said retractable support as the punch descends on the fastener, said anvil mechanism comprising relatively movable curling and flattening parts, said curling part having a slot cut therethrough to receive the tangs, the ends of said slot being sloped to form camming surfaces for curling the tangs, the upper large end of the slot being long enough to receive the tangs before curling the same, the flattening part including a male element slidably receivable in the lower small end of the slot of the curling part, said male element being shorter than the spacing of the tangs prior to curling but long enough to engage the tangs as they are curled by the sloping ends of the slot, springs normally urging said curling part upwardly relative to the flattening part, said upward movement being adequate to provide ample clearance in the slot for curling of the tangs, the downward movement of said curling part being adequate to bring the flattening part substantially flush with the curling part in order that the tangs may be hammered fiat.

HARRY LEVINE. 

